


give me all of your attention

by bonnieanonnie



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Allusions to prostitution, M/M, attempted drugging/robbery, hustlers au, seungcheol's saviour complex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-16 14:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20842925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonnieanonnie/pseuds/bonnieanonnie
Summary: choi seungcheol was never part of the plan.





	give me all of your attention

**Author's Note:**

> mandatory [one million heart emojis] to [whiteshores](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteshores/pseuds/whiteshores) for always encouraging me and putting up with my dumbass jc brain
> 
> ive watched hustlers twice and am fascinated and a little obsessed

choi seungcheol was never part of the plan.

their marks were supposed to be sleazy businessmen who made money off of the backs of little people. men who lied to their wives about where they went on friday nights. men who groped servers and harrassed interns. bad men.

choi seungcheol, with his kind eyes and excited lilt to his voice as he told jeonghan of his company’s new non profit ventures, was not a bad man. choi seungcheol, who had laughed and teased ‘what a fitting name’ when jeonghan introduced himself as angel, who had come up to jeonghan and offered him a drink and then ordered him _ soda_, did not deserve to have his credit card run up by a group of greedy strippers and escorts.

this is why, when joshua and the rest of their little crew had strutted into the bar, dressed to the nines in designer clothing, jeonghan had felt his stomach clench in worry.

“o-oh,” he had stuttered out, trying not to be affected by seungcheol’s gentle gaze on him.”my friends are here.”

“do you need to go?” seungcheol’s eyes had still been so kind, but now there was a disappointed gleam in them, as if he wanted jeonghan to stay with him for the rest of the night.

but jeonghan couldn’t go off script, knew what he needed to do to avoid risking his and his friends’ whole livelihood, so he had painted a smile on his face, fluttered his lashes, and told seungcheol,

“not at all,” all while fiddling with one of seungcheol’s cufflinks, making sure to let the tip of a finger grace seungcheol’s hand.”but is it okay if they join us?”

seungcheol, bless his innocent soul, had flushed a light pink and stuttered out a faint _ of course_.

that’s why they’re here, now, jeonghan and seungcheol tucked into the middle of the booth, joshua on jeonghan’s right and seungkwan and soonyoung on seungcheol’s left. they’re laying it on thick tonight, even soonyoung making unusually seductive eyes at seungcheol, and jeonghan knows it’s both because of seungcheol’s rare good looks and the ulysse nardin watch on his wrist. it’s a dangerous combination, jeonghan thinks, to be as handsome and wealthy as seungcheol is. it’s something he would have expected to have left the man jaded and closed off, in desperate search of fulfilment the same way the men who patron the clubs are. jeonghan knows very little about being successful and respected, but he knows what it’s like being desirable. it’s a dangerous and exhausting existence, but seungcheol seems to have evaded the possessive hands of others, because the man is genuine and polite, listening attentively even as seungkwan gives him some made up story about their little group.

seungcheol’s arm is still placed on the backrest behind jeonghan, and he basks in the intimacy of it, his heart skipping a beat when seungcheol’s arm slides a little lower until it rests against the back of his neck.

for a few minutes he pretends that this is his reality. he lets himself live another life. in this life jeonghan didn’t grow up an orphan and he never had to set foot inside a single shady club. in this life he met seungcheol at a pretty campus cafe, love at first sight, and they spent the next few months getting to know each other and exploring their love. seungcheol would introduce jeonghan to his parents and they would adore him, and at dinner he’d impress them by knowing exactly which cutlery to use for which dish.

seungcheol laughs politely at a suggestive joke soonyoung makes, and jeonghan pretends they're at a fun night out with their closest friends. the oversized dress shirt he's wearing would be one he'd stolen from seungcheol's side of the wardrobe, and in a couple of hours seungcheol would turn to him, eyes tired, and ask if it wasn't time for them to go home.

butterflies flutter in his stomach at the mere thought of this imaginary life, making a soft sigh fall from his lips.

joshua is the one to pull him out of his fantasy, his hand landing gently on his thigh, only to squeeze the flesh of his leg hard. _ get yourself together_, the gesture orders and jeonghan is quick to fall in line, straightening in his seat and puts his hand back on seungcheol’s wrist that’s still resting on the table.

at the contact seungcheol turns to him, surprised look in his smile and wide grin on his face.

“i hope my friends aren’t too much,” he says in a low voice, barely above a whisper. they’re pressed close together again, jeonghan almost leaning against his chest, and it’s making jeonghan’s heart beat rabbit-fast in his ribcage.

“of course not,” seungcheol is quick to reassure, and as he speaks he slides his wrist down through jeonghan’s grip to hold his hand, gently and intimately.”they’re quite charming.”

“i’m glad you—”

–

“i was so relieved to see angel wasn’t alone when we came in,” joshua interrupts from the side, stealing seungcheol’s attention.”i was so worried about letting him wait alone in a place like this.”

“oh it’s my pl—” seungcheol starts, but is quickly cut off by joshua. jeonghan’s stomach drops a little, joshua was impatient tonight, but jeonghan couldn’t figure out why.

“please, let me buy you a drink as a thank you for taking such good care of our angel,” joshua offers in that seductive, enchanting voice of his. jeonghan wants to hit him, has to hold himself back from kicking him under the table. they couldn’t go through with this, it wouldn’t be right to steal from seungcheol. he catches seungkwan’s eyes and shakes his head minutely, but seungkwan only gives a confused frown in reply.

“ah, i’m actually not much of a drinker,” seungcheol starts to say, and jeonghan’s heart jumps in his chest. this was perfect, seungcheol would decline and joshua would deem him a bust, meaning they’d excuse themselves quickly, no harm done. jeonghan briefly mourns the fact that he’d never see seungcheol again, but figures it’s a small price to pay for seungcheol to get out of this with all his assets untouched.

“but i suppose one drink can’t hurt.”

_ fuckfuckfuck. _

jeonghan catches joshua’s eye, holds his gaze for a split second, and he can tell his best friend knows what he’s trying to say because his mouth twitches in displeasure. despite jeonghan’s silent pleading, the other quickly gives a passing waiter their order, jeonghan watching in despair.

joshua wasn’t always like this. when they met, joshua had been sweet and gentle, always ready to help the new boys at the club. joshua had taught jeonghan everything he knew, had picked him up from the dirty floor of a champagne room and taught him to use his pretty face to come out on top.

they’d sold themselves as a double act, as a two for one deal, but more than that, they’d been like brothers. they’d pretend they were twins, two halves of a whole. joshua understood him better than anyone and jeonghan thought it had been the same for him.

but at some point joshua had changed. somewhere between them leaving the pole behind for their fishing business, joshua had turned callous and greedy.

he’s not sure where his best friend had gone, because this man, whose eyes shone money-hungry as he poured date rape drugs into a glass of scotch, couldn’t be his best friend.

he watches the powder dissolve in the whisky with a quiet fizz and panic quickly climbs up his throat. he couldn’t let this happen, he had to stop seungcheol from drinking from that glass, no matter what. he throws a look around the table, stops breathing as he watches soonyoung and seungkwan keep seungcheol’s attention away from the whisky glass with generic compliments and empty questions. he couldn’t let them do this.

so he does something stupid.

joshua reaches across him, gentle smile on his face as he offers seungcheol the glass, but before seungcheol can accept it, jeonghan intercepts. he grabs the glass in both hands, ripping it from joshua and bringing it to his lips before anyone can react, gulping down the whisky despite his protesting taste buds. he only has time to drink for a few seconds before joshua tears the glass away from him, wearing a horrified expression, but those few seconds is all he needs, because the glass is almost empty.

“what the fuck, angel.” it’s not a question, and for a moment jeonghan actually fears his best friend, because he can see the badly concealed fury in joshua’s eyes.

retrospectively, jeonghan realises he should’ve probably just pretended to knock the drink over, but what’s done is done, and now there was nothing to do but wait for the drugs to kick in. he mindlessly raises a hand to wipe his mouth, whisky dripping down his chin from his desperate gulping.

“i’m sorry, seungcheol,” soonyoung is the next one to speak, and jeonghan can’t tear his eyes away from joshua’s, but he imagines soonyoung must have his most charming smile on his face. jeonghan is pretty sure seungcheol thinks he’s crazy and he’ll never want anything to do with him now, but at least he won’t get hurt, jeonghan has done that much for him.”i think we need to take angel home.”

he doesn’t get the chance to say goodbye to seungcheol because joshua grabs him by the arm and drags him from the table in record time, and jeonghan can do nothing but stumble after him.

seungkwan collects their coats from a confused host at the front of the bar, joshua holding a painful grip on jeonghan’s arm the whole time. when he gets them jeonghan’s hands shake too much for him to put it on, but no one makes a move to help him. they all move silently, no words shared as they walk into the elevator. it’s a slow descent, the tense silence feeling oppressive to jeonghan’s quickly muddling mind. he keeps his gaze fixed on the little screen displaying the floor numbers, recites each number in his head in an attempt to stay lucid. he’s got his coat in his hands, fingers desperately clutching the fabric trying not to think of the bruise joshua’s grip will leave on his skin.

when they finally make it outside, joshua wasting no time pulling jeonghan around the corner to the alley where their car is parked, the tension has grown so thick jeonghan thinks he might choke. he stops in his tracks and manages to tear himself from joshua’s grip. joshua continues for a few steps, and jeonghan’s eyes are stuck to the tenseness of his shoulders. he can’t breathe properly, the weight of his friends’ anger laying too heavy on his chest.

“jeonghan what’s going on?” soonyoung is the one to finally break the silence, and once it’s done jeonghan can’t keep from trying to explain himself.

“shua— ‘m shh-orry—” he can’t get the words out properly, his tongue already betraying him under the influence of their concoction.

“i don’t know what the fuck you’re playing at,” joshua advances on him quickly, and in the next moment he’s pressed up against the alley wall, his head thudding against the concrete. the pain spreads through the back of his head, but it’s a dull sensation, barely there.”you could’ve ruined everything for us!”

“he’s—” his head is growing foggier by the second, but he forces himself to explain.”—nice, sh'a.”

a mocking laugh echoes from beside them, and they both turn their heads to seungkwan.

“nice?” seungkwan says once he’s done laughing.”i know you were busy making ‘fuck me’ eyes at him, but i can’t believe you didn’t notice his hand on my thigh.”

jeonghan frowns. that couldn’t be true. he would have noticed. seungcheol had been sitting right next to him, one arm on the back of jeonghan’s seat and the other on the table in front of him. he’d even held jeonghan’s hand. or had he? had he moved his arm? had it been there at all? jeonghan’s trying to conjure up an image of seungcheol, tries to picture how they were sitting, but his head won’t cooperate. no matter how hard he tries his head just swims, his tongue growing thick and heavy in his mouth in time with the fog growing thicker in his head.

he tries to open his mouth to ask what’s going on, but all that comes out is a jumble of vowels.

joshua says something to him, but jeonghan can’t understand. then he’s being shaken, the hands on his shoulders tugging him back and forth until his head thuds against the wall again.

when joshua lets go of him his legs give out, making him slide down onto the ground. his body feels strange, some parts of it numb and others alive with a foreign tingling sensation.

there are loud voices around him, but he ignores them. instead he giggles to himself and rubs his palms against the pavement. the coarse ground felt ticklish against his skin, making the laughter bubble out of him in excited bursts. he was upset a few minutes ago, he knows, but now he can’t for the life of him remember why.

“hoshi let’s go.” joshua’s voice echoes from somewhere around him, but his eyes don’t open to find him. he can’t remember when he shut his eyes.

“we can’t leave him like this, anything could happen.” that's soonyoung's voice, his head tells him. he giggles again, fingers tapping against the cold pavement.

“maybe he needs the lesson.”

the last thing jeonghan registers is the distant sound of his friends arguing, then the slamming of heavy car doors and turning wheels on gravel.

* * *

when he wakes up it’s among soft sheets. the air smells fresh around him and the mattress is cloud-soft underneath him. he has to force himself to not fall back into sleep, the comfort of the warm bed sounding heavenly to his pounding head.

keeping still, eyes still closed, he takes careful account of himself. the bed smells unfamiliar. bad. he’s not naked. good. he’s pretty sure he’s not wearing his own clothes. bad. apart from his pounding headache, there’s no pain. very good.

it comes to him, then, a faint memory from the night before. he remembers seungcheol and his trusting eyes, the whisky glass, shining amber and dangerous in the bar light, and joshua’s furious look.

he tries to remember what happened when they left the bar, but comes up blank. he almost snorts, who knew their little concoction worked this well, making it hard to remember even the last moments before he’d downed the drink.

he stays unmoving on the bed, trying to hone in on any sound he can hear. someone is walking in the other room, the footsteps are heavy in a way that makes jeonghan assume it’s a man. he takes a deep breath through his nose. he could do this, he’d woken up in far worse situations, this would be a piece of cake.

in the next moment, jeonghan is forced out of his thoughts by the sound of the door opening.

“you awake?”

jeonghan’s eyes shoot open of their own accord, giving him a clear view of seungcheol, still in the same suit as last night, standing in the doorway to the bedroom. he looks tired, eyes bloodshot and purple bags pronounced underneath them, making it obvious that he hasn’t gotten any sleep. despite this, he still looks exceptionally handsome, jeonghan’s mouth going dry at seungcheol’s rugged appearance.

“seungcheol—” he croaks out, unsteady arms pushing himself up into a seating position. he's in a hotel room, he registers, and an upscale one at that, judging by the expensive decor.

“i hope you don’t mind that i put you in pyjamas, you threw up on yourself.” seungcheol interrupts him to say, tone clipped and serious. at his words, jeonghan finally notices the foul taste in his mouth, his face going hot at the thought of looking a mess in front of someone like seungcheol. the other man has moved fully into the room now, door closed behind him. when he walks around the bed so he can stand in front of it, leaning leisurely at the desk by the wall at the foot of the bed, jeonghan feels like a pupil about to get a scolding from a teacher."how're you feeling? i found you alone in the alley by the bar, high out of your mind."

“i'm okay,” he murmurs, fingers combing through his blonde hair, trying to smooth it down to lie prettily around his face again.”thank you for taking care of me.”

seungcheol only gives a slight nod in acknowledgement, eyes still trained on jeonghan, his face serious. jeonghan only barely manages to not squirm in his seat, seungcheol's gaze is heavy and calculating and it makes him want to spill all his secrets to the other man in hopes of winning his favour. he starts tugging at the edges of the duvet in his lap in an attempt at trying to distract himself, anything so he doesn't have to meet seungcheol's judging look.

“i’m assuming there was something in that glass.” when he finally speaks, seungcheol doesn’t sound nearly as accusing as jeonghan would have expected. jeonghan shrugs, refusing to meet his gaze. he feels guilty, for the first time during their whole business venture. he had no problem stealing from men who exploited people like him, didn’t bat an eye at drugging those who’d do the same to him, but seungcheol wasn’t like the others, he was different.

he chances a look at him, and even through the uncertainty and splitting headache, his heart skips a beat at how handsome seungcheol looks, even with his strong eyebrows furrowed and eyes stern.

“angel isn’t your real name.”

he shakes his head.

“jeonghan.” he offers simply, figuring he owes seungcheol that much after almost drugging and robbing him.

“are you going to tell me what last night was about, jeonghan?”

seungcheol’s tone makes him look away again, ashamed. he feels like a child, shoulders hunched and half-cowering behind his blanket. he hated this feeling, like he was someone small and ignorant at the mercy of someone else. at the same time he knows that this time he deserves it.

“we were going to drug you,” he croaks out, fingers drawing shapes on the sheets.”that’s what we do.”

“what you do?” seungcheol sounds disbelieving, like he thinks jeonghan must be making things up.

“it’s called fishing. we find wealthy men and we offer them a good time,” he continues to explain, looking up at seungcheol through his lashes. he straightens up in his seat. he’s not ashamed of this part, even though he should be.”but then we put drugs in their drinks so we can run up their credit cards.”

seungcheol’s brows are traveling steadily higher up his forehead, eyes going wide.

“that’s what you were going to do to me?”

jeonghan shrugs again. he doesn’t want to admit it out loud.

“so why didn’t you?” seungcheol sounds justifiably confused, but jeonghan starts squirming in his seat at being put on the spot. it felt silly, trying to explain that seungcheol was good in a way the men they usually stole from weren’t.”why didn’t you want to steal from me, jeonghan?”

he wishes seungcheol would stop using his name, it felt far too intimate for what they were, it made jeonghan think dangerous and hopeful thoughts, and coupled with the authoritative tone of voice jeonghan was easily rendered putty in seungcheol’s strong hands. 

“you’re nice.”

“i’m nice?”

“usually,” he swallows, shoulders caving in again.”our marks are bad people. married men who lie to their wives, people who make money off of others.”

“men we’ve serviced before.” jeonghan’s skin burns, he doesn’t want to say these things to seungcheol. anything he’s ever done has been to survive, and while he’s not ashamed of that he knows what people think of him when they find out.“you’re not like them.”

“you wanted to spare me because you think i’m a good person?” seungcheol has no right smirking at him like that, especially not now, when jeonghan just got done explaining what he barely escaped.

“i don’t think you’d hurt anyone for your own pleasure.” jeonghan’s words makes the smile fall off seungcheol’s face, his features turning grave and serious.

they’re both quiet for a few minutes, taking each other in carefully. seungcheol appears to be in deep thought, and jeonghan sits frozen under his gaze. he briefly considers getting up and leaving. it would be easy, he doubts seungcheol would try to stop him, but at the same time he doesn’t feel like he’s allowed. he feels like he needs seungcheol’s permission before he’s even allowed to get out of bed.

seungcheol stands quietly for almost five minutes, just staring at him. when he finally moves, it’s so unexpected it almost makes jeonghan jump. seungcheol doesn’t move toward him, instead he takes slow, sure steps across the room, squatting down in front of the mini fridge, his back to jeonghan. for a second, jeonghan wonders if seungcheol is going to reach for one of the many expensive liqueurs available to him and the thought makes him sit up straighter, ready to duck away at the first sign of alcohol induced unpredictability.

seungcheol, however, soothes his worries in the same moment they appear, because when he stands up, he's taken two water bottles out of the fridge.

the man doesn’t look at jeonghan when he tosses one of the bottles onto the bed, merely walks his way back to his previous position leaning against the desk, facing jeonghan on the bed.

jeonghan takes the water bottle and drinks without complaint, his sore throat and empty stomach grateful for the cool water. lifting his bottle in the air, seungcheol gives jeonghan a small _ cheers _ motion before he drinks. jeonghan’s lips twitch into an almost-smile.

jeonghan takes his time drinking, seungcheol doing the same. it’s not until he’s two thirds of the way through that he speaks again.

“you didn’t fuck me.” it’s jeonghan’s turn to look at seungcheol, to assess him and his motives.

“just because you’re happy to exploit people under the influence doesn’t mean everyone is.” jeonghan scoffs at the patronising tone, rolls his eyes at seungcheol’s naivety.

“in my world they are.”

his statement seems to make seungcheol pause, the superior aura melting away from the man with a speed that’s almost comical. he looks confused again, in complete disbelief at the ease with which jeonghan speaks of his world where people do terrible things to survive.

“people in my world do,” he continues easily.”exploit people, that is.”

something about what he says seems to catch seungcheol’s attention because he straightens up, eyes attentive as he looks at jeonghan.

“is—” seungcheol looks him up and down, something calculating in his gaze.”is someone forcing you to do this? a-are you being—”

jeonghan recoils, taken aback. anger flashes white hot inside him.

“no one is forcing me to do anything.”

“you can trust me,” seungcheol urges, voice sickeningly genuine. jeonghan feels bile rise in his throat.”if you’re in trouble i can help you, i was going to offer last night, but—”

“what.” jeonghan’s world is quickly crumbling around him with the realisation of what an idiot he’s been. would joshua ever forgive him after this? last night that question had mattered less than making sure no harm came seungcheol’s way, but now, when seungcheol seemed insistent on tearing apart the image of him jeonghan had created in his head, all he wants is to beg for forgiveness at joshua’s feet.

“someone like you in a bar like that, it was obvious you were a—” seungcheol cuts himself off and jeonghan feels like he just got slapped. it all falls into place, why seungcheol had been the one to approach him first. why he’d bought him soda instead of alcohol.“i just thought that—”

“you thought i was a victim,” he hisses out, sheets clutched tight in his grip.”’this boy is so delicate’ you thought,’someone must be forcing him into this.’”

“you wanted to save me, didn’t you?” a laugh falls from his lips, high pitched and delirious. his whole body is shaking and he thinks that maybe the drugs hadn’t completely left him after all because he can’t seem to control himself.”you hoped i was needy and lost so you could swoop in and steal me away, and i’d hand myself over to you ready and willing.”

“i just wanted to make sure you were okay!” seungcheol sounds desperate, and it’s a stark contrast to the authority he spoke with earlier, or the sweet tone he used the night before. jeonghan’s whole body is shaking, but he’s not sure if it’s from fury or despair.

“the more i talked to you the sadder you looked.” seungcheol runs a hand through his hair, messing up his perfect black locks.”i couldn’t— ”

“i thought i could make things better for you.” it’s a ridiculous statement. a naive wish from someone who doesn’t know anything about jeonghan’s world, who thinks jeonghan is innocent and abused and in need of a savior to pull him out of the darkness.

“i don’t need you to save me.” his voice is icy cold, teeth gritted as he speaks.”i made three grand last weekend.”

seungcheol lets out a laugh, clipped and derisive. it makes jeonghan feel small.

“you’re doing well for yourself, huh?” seungcheol says, like he's talking to a child caught cheating on a test."making all the money you need stealing from _ bad men_."

“how long do you think it’s going to be before you’re caught? before one of these bad and _ powerful _ men decide they'd prefer to get you out of the way?” jeonghan hates that seungcheol is right.”how many years do you think this little business of yours will get you?”

seungcheol unfurls his crossed arms and starts counting off on one hand.”from what you’ve told me you’re guilty of fraud, assault and possession of illegal substances, that's serious stuff.”

"we won't get caught," jeonghan spits out. he hates seungcheol for saying exactly what he's been thinking for weeks now, hates that he is quickly running out of options and second chances."none of our marks would ever risk the embarrassment of going to the police."

seungcheol rubs his chin in thought, makes a show out of contemplating jeonghan's words.

"you're probably right," he starts, and the way he says it lets jeonghan know seungcheol does not, in fact, think he's probably right."they probably wouldn't bother with the police."

"i know the kind of men you target, i do plenty of business with them." seungcheol has a hint of something dark in his eyes, and jeonghan swallows once he notices it, breathing becoming laboured. it seems that maybe seungcheol wasn't as innocent or naive as jeonghan had originally thought. "they don't bother with the law, they prefer simpler solutions, like bullets or dark hotel rooms where those who wronged them can pay off their debts."

"why do you care!?" it finally boils over, the panic and the confusion and the overbearing feeling of being dragged deeper and deeper into the water, it all bursts out of him in a loud, desperate shout."what does it matter to you what happens to me!?"

everything stills in the aftermath of his scream. the world melts away until there exists only jeonghan, seungcheol and the hotel room. jeonghan faintly registers he's still shaking.

seungcheol doesn't speak while walks up to the bed, his steps slow and tentative, eyes on jeonghan as if he’s gauging his reaction. jeonghan doesn’t move, frozen in place and silently allowing seungcheol to come closer.

seungcheol sits down on the edge of the bed, a respectable distance away. he let's out a short sigh once he's seated, and from his place on the bed he gives jeonghan a little shrug.

"i just think you're nice."

the drugs must really still be in jeonghan's system, because at seungcheol's words he bursts into simultaneous laughter and tears. sobs wrack through his body between choked laughter, and jeonghan briefly thinks that he must look so far from his usual self it's a wonder seungcheol can even stand to look at him.

seungcheol, to his credit, doesn't even flinch at jeonghan's breakdown. he doesn't frown in disgust or even lean away, only reaches into his jacket and takes out a handkerchief that he hands to jeonghan, empathic smile on his handsome features.

jeonghan takes the white cloth gratefully, cradles the soft fabric gently in his hands as he tries to wipe away the steadily flowing tears. at some point he stopped laughing, now rendered a mess of tears, snot and miserable sobs.

he barely registers seungcheol putting a comforting hand on his calf, tentative and light, making it easy for jeonghan to pull away if he wants to, but he doesn't. he's been alone for so long, slipping further and further into despair with each credit card stolen and luxury clothing item bought, all the while desperately missing the person his best friend used to be, that seungcheol's hand on him felt like the only good thing he'd experienced in ages.

when he's calmed down, a long ten minutes later, he speaks, his voice raspy and face red from crying,

“i can’t be bought,” he swallows around the lump in his throat.”we do this so no one can own us anymore.”

seungcheol nods, that same, gentle smile on his face.

"i'd never dream of trying to own you, jeonghan."

jeonghan probably shouldn't believe him, but he does.

"do you want to go for breakfast?"

jeonghan nods, wipes his face one last time.

"i'm starving."

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me on twitter @jeonghannieya im very occasionally funny
> 
> (and i apologise for not finishing fics i should be finishing fourth year is a lot busier than i was anticipating bit it's coming!! i promise!!)


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